


Through the Veil

by InTheAsylum103



Category: Curse of Strahd - Fandom, D&D - Fandom, Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Curse of Strahd, D&D, Dungeons and Dragons, Dwarf, F/M, Fantasy, Fighting, Half-orc, M/M, Magic, Orc, Strahd von Zarovich - Freeform, Undead, Wizard, Zombie, barbarian, druid, vampire
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:08:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22812835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InTheAsylum103/pseuds/InTheAsylum103
Summary: I am the DM of my D&D group, and I've taken it upon myself to write a story of the party that has gone to Barovia before my players have. Some things will be different in the story compared to the campaign as some characters have not yet met the fate fallen to them as told in the Curse of Strahd book.
Kudos: 1





	Through the Veil

Dusk was starting to settle in the sky when the two travelers decided to make camp. Gathering wood and stone, the dwarf began to ignite a low fire for the night’s meal. Rabbit with a side of berries would have to suffice for the two as their journey was almost at a close. Turning the rabbit over the fire, the two began to discuss their plans for the following day.   
“Once we make it into Rinnsloth, we must meet with the Captain to discuss trading weapons with Richber. We may need them in the coming years.” The man rubbed the tiredness from his eyes and watched the gentle sway of the fire’s flames. His long, pointed ears were becoming red from the heat, but he didn't seem to mind. The warmth was a welcome change from the cold, bitter nights.   
“Shit, I hope the pay for this is a good one. If it ain’t more ‘en 200 gold then I’ll kill someone!” The dwarf growled and spat to the side, then she began cutting the meat into even portions. The two ate in silence, listening to the sounds of the woodland creatures settle for the night. As the crackle of the fire lulled the dwarf to sleep, they heard something peculiar. Faint whispers at the back of their mind began to pull them deeper and deeper into slumber.   
Birds chirping in the trees around them, the dwarf woke up with a start. The light from the sun beamed onto them, but her partner was no longer in front of them. The fire was gone, no wood or stone was left, and the wagon full of goods was lost. Grabbing a dagger, the dwarf began to look around. Two bodies were in her immediate area, one she knew belonged to her elven partner, Dedrik. She moved towards the closest body and kicked it lightly before jumping back. The body began to groan and push itself upward. 

~~~

The dinner table was silent save for the sounds of the cutlery on the ceramic plates. The boy darted his eyes back in forth between the man and woman, growing ever more anxious at the piercing silence. They never locked eyes, only staring at the plates in front of them. The boy’s fists clenched around his knife, ignoring the pain emanating from his hand. The bandage became a deep scarlet, and yet no one said a word. Gently placing the knife onto the table, the boy stood up and began to walk away from his parents.  
“Where the hell do you think you’re going, boy?” The man stood up from the table and walked towards his son. The boy’s hands trembled against his will.   
“Nowhere,” the boy’s voice uneven in his response. He suddenly fell to the ground, cheek blazing hot and red. Gripping his face, tears pricked his eyes.   
“The HELL you are!” Standing over his son, the man cracked his knuckles. Just as his father takes another step forward, the boy dashed for the door. Stumbling for a moment, his eyes morph into an opal white as a wall of fire appears before him. His father crashes forward, stopping in his tracks, and watches the wall of flames grow taller as the boy runs out of the house.   
The boy ran, ran, ran into the inky blackness of the nighttime until he was far away from his home. He ran until his legs felt heavy and his mouth was painfully dry, then - and then only - did he stop for a moment to catch his breath. Leaning against a nearby tree for support, he recalled the events that led up to that moment. The pain that was inflicted on him because of one simple conversation. He was dumbfounded and heartbroken, tears welling in his eyes as he slammed his fist into the tree.   
“Damn it, GOD DAMN IT!” The boy screamed clutching at his chest. Then the boy had a thought, ‘what happens if they try and find me?’ His eyes darted back towards where he came from as he trudged forward. He wandered for what seemed like hours in the forest near his home when the darkness took him. Falling onto the ground with a thud, he slept like the dead.   
The darkness that enshrouded his mind was suddenly pushed back from whence it came, the pain quickly following it. Crying out, the throbbing pain coming back in full force, he opened his eyes to see a woman staring at him. 

~~~

“Linix, Linix, Linix!” The crowd chanted the name as punches were thrown in a frenzy. A man facing a woman in hand-to-hand combat, the woman seemingly at a severe disadvantage. The man, although not as tall as the woman, had much more weight to him. Both of them bloody and bruised, they kept swinging at each other’s weak points until one gave in. With a loud CRACK the man fell face down onto the floor. Blood pouring from his nose, he laid there still.   
“And the winner is... Linix!” The crowd roared in response. As the woman wiped the sweat off of her forehead, she was pulled off of the stage and into an adjacent room. Pushed down into a chair, a small woman forcefully pulled at her face. Inspecting the bruising and lacerations present from the brawl, the small woman started to apply disinfectant.  
“Good job out there, but you must be careful not to take too many hits. Just look at your face, it’s even uglier than normal,” said the small woman. The woman’s name was Tanya and despite her size, she knew how to defend herself.   
“Yeah, sorry… I just got a bit distracted.” Linix’s eyes fell to the floor as Tanya crossed her arms. With a heavy sigh, Tanya began to put a bandage over the wound on Linix’s cheek. With a mischievous smile across her face, Tanya slapped the bandage into place.   
“OW - Mother of Mercy! What the hell was that for!?” Eyes narrowed and glaring, Linix bared her teeth at Tanya.   
“Oh, quite that. You don’t scare me. You need to forget about what happened all that time ago, getting yourself sick over it won’t help anything.” Triumphantly, Tanya put the bandages and disinfectants back into her bag.   
“Yeah, yeah, yeah…” Slumping her shoulders and resting her head on her hand, Linix took a deep breath. Her chest begins to tighten as she recalls that day two years ago, the day that would haunt her for the rest of her short life. Taking another deep breath, she stood up from her chair and began to saunter out of the room.   
“Thanks for the patch-up doc, I’ll see you at the next fight.” Linix waved goodbye with a wide smile on her face, her large teeth in full view. With only a grunt and a half-wave from Tanya in response, Linix trudged out of the building. Wandering to a nearby tavern, she began to drink her sorrow to the bottom of many bottles. When it was almost time for sunrise, Linix finally left the tavern fully intoxicated and now hardly perturbed at her vicious memories.   
Slumping against a wall, she began to search every pocket for one thing - a picture. A small, wrinkled picture of a half-elf woman with bright blue eyes. Linix stroked the picture, red eyes beginning to glaze over in a haze. It wasn’t long after that when the darkness surrounded her.   
Feeling a sensation tickling at her nose, Linix began to be pulled from her slumber. Rubbing at her eyes, she ignored the throbbing headache as she finally took a look around. What had instantly hit her as she awoke was the smell, there was a rancid stench that hung right behind her. Pushing herself upward, she no longer felt the brick of the building she had passed out onto, but felt the give of something soft. Clawing her way away from the mass, she turned around and witnessed a horrifying sight. Bodies piled high, all in different stages of decay with some being as far as the black putrefaction stage and others only hours expired.   
Retching up bile, images of the putrid scenery flashed through her mind, even as she tried her best to push them away. Her limbs decidedly found a new life of their own and carried her away from the gory mass. Catching her breath, she felt a wave of fear in her chest. She frantically searched her pockets for her picture, but to no avail. It was gone. Hesitantly, Linix turned around and quickly scanned by the mangled bodies in the dogpile. There was nothing there either. Gritting her teeth, red eyes glaring, she began to stumble away.   
It wasn’t long before she began to hear shouting coming from deeper into the woods. Following her intuition, which has rarely failed her, she stumbled her way towards the sound. 

~~~

The dwarf kicked the slumbering boy in the ribs and jumped back as he began to groan and awaken. Holding his abdomen he stumbled to his feet.   
“What’s your problem? Why’d you kick me?!” The boy said, down pointed eyes tearing up at the throbbing pain. The dwarf put her hand out and took a few steps back.  
“Hey, I was just makin’ sure you ain’t dead!” The dwarf put her hand out towards him.   
“My name’s Quinn, what’s yer’s?” A wide crooked grin spread across the dwarf’s face. As she excitedly shook hands with the boy.  
“Uhh… my name is Vulkon,” he croaked out, letting his arm be shaken to pieces by this tiny woman.   
“Well, it’s certainly nice to meet ya!” Quinn let go of Vulkon’s arm and wandered over to Dedrik and began to shake him awake as well. As he began to rise, the group heard a quiet snap in the woods to their left. Quinn, unsheathing her dagger, began softly tiptoeing towards the sound. Snap, snap, crack! The sounds were getting louder, just as Quinn’s heartbeat was thundering in her head. Thud!  
A towering figure fell forward and crashed before Quinn. The figure seemed to be a very tall woman with dark purple skin and deep black hair. She began to lift herself off the ground and look towards the others.   
“Well, this is one hell of a welcome party.” The half-orc raised herself to her knees and looked towards the others.  
“Wait, wait, wait… What the hell is going on? Where ARE we?!” Vulkon shouted to the others. His deep brown eyes darting back and forth between everyone he’d just met. Shaking his head, he ran his hands through his hair. A tear fell down his cheek when the half-orc spoke up.  
“The names Linix and, look, I don’t know who all of you are or what we’re all doing here, but I’d rather not stick around these woods. Who knows what kind of monsters roam about.” The half-orc steadied herself and began searching for something, anything that would point them to civilization. The others, with seemingly no other choice, began to follow her lead.


End file.
